U.S. House stimulus package includes biomass, biofuels provisions

Biomass Magazine February 2009
By Erin Voegele
Web exclusive posted Feb. 3, 2009, at 2:47 p.m. CST

By a vote of 244 to 199, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Jan. 28. The stimulus package makes supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and state and local fiscal stabilization. While 244 democrats voted to pass the bill, 11 democrats and 177 republicans opposed it.

Also known as H.R. 1, the legislation is designed to stimulate the economy in a number of ways, and includes several provisions relating to the renewable energy and biofuels industries. For example, the bill would extend the production tax credit for biomass energy until 2013.

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